*HAYLEN LOEVE *
Age: 22
Sex: Masculine
***
Beautiful, and even that didn't do it justice.
Four marble pillars held up the roof of a building on which had been carved and engraved beautiful symbols. From crowns of vine to quills and owls, the craftsmanship was almost divine. A bit over the building's white doors, Spiti, meaning home, was written in Greek letters.
Despite having been there just last night, I was in too much of a rush to notice it. This was why I left, I couldn't stand to look at those walls anymore. This was the world I had risked my life to see.
My heart finally settled, there was no longer a reason to fear for my life. I remained vigilant but not tense, allowing air to fill my lungs fully before letting out a deep exhale. With it not only ejecting CO2 but also the weight on my shoulders.
[What now?] Yes I was safe, but I was also homeless, poor, and dirty.
The best course of action was to go see Levi, but I was only safe as long as I was on campus. Outside, I could be gunned down the second I passed a dark corner. Looking around, I doubted there was somewhere else in the city as populated as here.
But this was a prestigious academy, that much was clear. I couldn't just waltz in and apply to be a student.
I'd have to risk it and go see Levi, it was better than nothing. She was probably at that place. With no way to apply I'd eventually be caught and interrogated for my strange attire, my blue and grey uniform was disturbingly reminiscent of prisonwear.
[It seems like everyone's in their classes except for a few loiterers.] That was good, it was unlikely loiterers cared no matter how debauched I looked. I walked up to the most friendly-looking person I could find, a man with auburn locks and blue eyes. His features were soft and his smile warm as candlelight.
"Would you happen to know where Junjujunjun Library is?" I flashed my nicest smile and asked a question, pretending to be some random man passing through.
The man, who smelt faintly of oranges, shrugged and returned my smile with an even more radiant one. "No clue, but that girl over there might know. She's from the student council, so it's like her job to help people with stuff like that."
"Thanks." He had pointed to a girl with grey hair tied in a large singular braid with a small mountain of books held in her hands. She definitely seemed more reliable than the orange-smelling man.
She jumped slightly upon my approach.
"Sorry to scare you, but I was wondering if you knew where I could find Junjujunjun Library?"
"Y-Yeah, I was actually heading that way right now."
Bingo. My smile widened naturally. "I can help you carry those books for you in exchange for taking me to the library. I'm not the best with directions." That wasn't a lie. Having never been outside except on special occasions had rendered my sense of direction obsolete. I'd be shocked if I managed to find myself on a map.
Whether she was the kind of person who wasn't good at saying no or just a helpful person, I didn't really care. All that mattered to me was that she had nodded her head in affirmation.
I took the books and together we walked the road in front of us, flanked on both sides by buildings almost as opulent as the dorm. Like the dorm, on top of the buildings' white doors were written different things. Building A, Building B, Delta A, Delta B, the letter went all the way to Lambda.
I must've looked like an awestruck child, as the girl at my side let out a small laugh.
"What?" I asked, a little embarrassed.
"Nothing, it's just been a while since I've seen someone look like that. Being at this school so often makes me forget just how beautiful it really is."
"Well, how long have you been here?"
"A little more than a year now." She seemed lost in her own mind for a moment, hesitating before saying. "I don't often think about how long it's been. It's a little crazy, don't you think? Just a few blinks ago I was in high school worrying about this and that, now I'm an adult with a job and responsibilities. "
She looked too innocent, I didn't want to ruin her mood by telling her I couldn't relate. Since the age of 12 I had been a guinea pig, turned to something not quite human. No, I didn't find it crazy because the things she was saying were so far from my reality it almost hurt to imagine.
So I smiled and nodded. "I know what you mean."
She seemed to beam at my response.
"I'm Eliya, by the way."
"Haylen, nice to meet you."
With the ice broken, conversation flowed naturally. We didn't need to have any common interests, in fact I didn't even need to know a thing about her world. I could to talk.
I'd let her lead the conversation, only speaking to ask questions or slightly change topics. Through this I learned some interesting trivia, like Eliya's love for heavy metal and the general workings of the school as well as the name, V's College for the Scholars and Athletes.
It sounded a little strange for a school that prided itself partly on its modernity, but who was I to judge?
Past the buildings starting with A, B, 1, and 2, the road split into two branches. Eliya explained that the one to the left led to the faculty office, while the one to the right led to a sort of plaza for the students.
We were going right, Junjujunjun Library, Jun Library, was just a little further than the students' plaza.
The closer we got to the students' plaza, the more my eyes wandered. I pushed my sense of sight, smell, and hearing to their limit. I couldn't let my guard down, especially once we left school grounds.
It was a good thing it had ended up being closer than imagined. Had the library been far away, I didn't even want to imagine what would've happened.
"We're almost there, just one more turn and we should be there." We went right again just beyond the students' plaza. I continued to strain my senses.
I couldn't dodge a bullet that had already been fired. But if I heard the bullets being loaded, the sound of someone placing their finger on the trigger, the click the second the trigger was pressed, then it was a different story.
What irony that I, the only survivor of project LUCENT, was the only person who could escape them.
My hearing, which they had sharpened, made me immune to ambushes. My smell, which they had refined, made attempts to poison me futile. And that thing, what they had done to my body, I would be sure to repay them. I'd show them just how painful it was to be frozen solid.
Their perfect guinea pig would also be their perfect counter.
My attention turned back to Eliya. I didn't want to drag her into this. Though it seemed to be to late.
I felt a pressure weigh on my heart, dread. Dread as to what? That much completely evaded me. My body had realized something my mind still hadn't. We continued forward and only when Eliya's hand grasped the doorknob did it finally hit me.
A sound, deafening to my ears alone. The sound of silence, absolute silence.
"Wai-" I called, a hand reaching out to stop Eliya. I wasn't fast enough as the library door flew open. The scene inside only served to prove the thoughts that had begun forming in my head.
There was movement, for only the briefest of instances. Everyone in the library had flinched, as if they were about to stand but immediately stopped themselves. They had wanted to attack me, but something had stopped them.
I turned to the oblivious Eliya, who stepped into the library with glee. I gave a silent thanks to my past self, the situation slowly becoming clear.
I had been trapped, they knew I would come running to Levi the second I escaped. What they hadn't accounted for was me bringing someone. That went against the image of me they had in their heads.
A cold, unfeeling demon that kept to itself, that was the mask I had shown them. That Haylen, the Haylen they knew, wouldn't have brought someone with them.
Eliya was an unexpected variable, they couldn't act rashly while she was here.